One healthcare worker told MailOnline Brands on Sale’s “Ebola containment suit costume” wasn’t her idea of a funny Halloween costume. Physician’s assistant Maria Mckenna said: “Normally I think that irony and humour is funny, but this thing with the costumes, is it really that funny? I mean, Ebola’s not even under control yet.”

But Brands on Sale’s chief executive Johnathon Weeks didn’t see the problem. He told the Atlantic: “It’s Halloween. It’s one day. If people are that serious about it, they don’t know what Halloween is about.”

Meanwhile, in the UK, bloodstained cheerleader and American football player costumes are being sold by the Walmart-owned supermarket Asda.

Child-sized blue and white cheerleader and American football uniforms featuring bloodstains and extruding bones, muscle and cartilage, “sure to be scaring everyone at those Halloween parties”, are being sold on its website and in stores.

Yet sales are strong: on Sunday, the bloody cheerleader outfit was sold out in ages 9-12.

A spokesman for Asda denied the bloodstains represented bullet holes, telling the Telegraph: “We appreciate that it isn’t for everyone but the majority of our customers love dressing up at Halloween, especially in spooky or gory costumes which inevitably can include fake blood.”

Some may argue that discussions about tasteless Halloween costumes take the silliness out of what is, for the majority in the UK and US, a light-hearted celebration. Halloween should be a time when wearing a zombie glitter ball or dressing as a bloodthirsty Whole Foods cashier is acceptable.

News-pegged costumes are rarely ever a good idea. And costumes featuring shot teenagers aimed at children and young teenagers could fall into this category.

In the 14 months after the Newtown shootings in December 2012, where 20 children and six carers were killed, there were a further 44 school shootings, resulting in 28 fatalities. Of those, 20 involved shooters under 18.

And while the Ebola outbreak continues, is it right to make light of the epidemic with a Halloween costume? Or is it all meant to be in good fun?

Share your thoughts in the thread below and contribute images of the most tasteless Halloween costumes you’ve seen via GuardianWitness.